


Zero Gravity

by Inkeye



Series: Life's Locus [3]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Angst, Bro-Rifle Ship, F/M, Is Bro-Rifle a Tag Yet?, M/M, More tags to follow, Original Character Death(s), Rating May Change, Redeemed Kallus, Space family, Swearing, Wartime Politics, grey morality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-28 08:33:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7632703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkeye/pseuds/Inkeye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Months after his defection, Kallus feels oddly at home with the Resistance crew. Equally surprisingly, they find themselves quite fond of the ex-agent, and even their most suspicious family member has opened up. It had occurred to no-one that perhaps a budding friendship between Kallus and Sabine might create some problems, for both themselves and the rest of the crew...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

"Define "modified'."

Kallus held the small blaster to inspect more closely. At first glance, he couldn't see anything out of place. Squinting, he spotted a tiny grey patch near the base of the barrel where it had been soldered. Sabine tapped the spot.

"Nipped out the power core, and fiddled with some wires while I was in there. It's got a charge at ten-per-minute, quicker than the regular six-" Kallus nodded, impressed. "-and the shots are pretty soft. They just give you a jolt. _Maybe_ some tingling, loss of feeling in your extremities...unlikely though."

"What? You didn't mention that!"

Sabine grinned at Ezra. "Then don't get hit. That's the point, right?"

The neophyte Padawan glanced behind him. "Er-master?"

Kanan looked on with a raised eyebrow. "Yes?"

Ezra's shoulders slumped, as help was clearly not forthcoming from that corner. "Oh- _fine_. But you guys are enjoying this _way_ too much."

"I can't imagine why you'd have that impression, Jabba." Kallus said. Eza shot him a sour look, sliding one foot back for balance as he ignited his lightsaber. Sabine snickered and walked to the far end of the cargo hold. Kanan settled on the platform to watch.

They started slow, as Kallus got a feel for the challenge. Ezra was a small target, and fast. Kallus couldn't keep up with his leg. He remained largely in the background, allowing Sabine the run of the hold to stalk their target. She had similar speed, and much more grace to her movements than the still occasionally clumsy boy. Sabine had a bright gleam in her eye as they unbalanced Ezra in the wake of a furious salvo. Even so, the boy's Force abilities gave him slight insight into their next moves, and the 'saber gave him versatility in offense and defense. He recovered quickly.

Not to mention, Ezra was a quick study-and he had no shortage of teachers. Certainly, he had his Jedi training with Kanan, but as Sabine pursued him across the floor, Kallus noted other elements in his technique. There was Hera's approach, strewing canisters behind him as he used the environment to his advantage. Kallus saw the shadow of Zeb when Ezra seized a chance for an offensive attack that had Sabine leaping back before she could complete a successful maneuver. And (he noted with a surge of pride) a familiar technique in which the padawan spun, twisting his body and 'saber in a complex movement that had him body-checking Sabine into the path of Kallus' blasts. The young woman successfully evaded them, but left herself open to Ezra completing the move, flicking his wrist to slice one of her blasters in two.

Ezra had been watching the last time he and Zeb sparred. And here was the same move he had used, adjusted for a 'saber on the fly.

Sabine swore and quickly backtracked. Ezra pursued. The destruction of the second blaster would drop her from the exercise. She leapt on the teetering pile of the ship's rubbish, just barely keeping her balance and ahold of the gun when Ezra attempted to Force-pull it from her grip. He circled, keeping both of them in view as he diverted their shots and looked for a good spot to follow her up.

Ezra's eyes flicked to one of the few flat surfaces. Sabine twisted for a split-second to nod at Kallus.

She jumped at the same time as Ezra, throwing the blaster. Startled, he swiped out with the 'saber as he landed awkwardly. Sabine's sudden movement had destabilized the stack, and he was watching her rather than noticing where Kallus was shooting. The garbage below him, already swaying, collapsed from the blasts, and the padawan went down with it.

Kallus jogged over to the mess. Ezra was already recovering, but it was too late. Kallus tapped his head with the barrel. On the other side of the rubble, Sabine jumped up waving the lightsaber in victory.

"Ha! Yes!" She exulted, then coughed, embarrassed.

Kanan clapped from the sidelines. "Well done, and thanks you two. That was a good play. Ezra-"

"Yeah, yeah." Ezra coughed, accepting Kallus' hand up. "Let's go over how I screwed up."

" _And_ what you did right-"

"But mostly how he screwed up." Kallus heard the amused voice come from behind, as arms wrapped around him and a chin perched on his head. Well-accustomed to his lover's easy displays of affection, he merely gripped the arms in turn. Ezra turned away, rolling his eyes like the immature teen he was. Sabine quirked her lips into a smile before going to collect the blaster halves.

"Don't hoard him away, Zeb, I want another go before lunch!" She called over her shoulder.

The ex-agent looked forward to the next round, but there were other matters to attend to at the moment. "Did you two come to an agreement with the commander?"

He felt the heavy sigh roll through Zeb. "Not exactly. I wanted to come talk to you about that."

Kallus frowned up at him. "About...what, exactly?"

\---

"Where will we find you?"

Zeb glanced up from packing. "Eh, I'll work that out after it's done. Dunno how long the Elders are going to want me to stick around after, so no point in tryin' to pick a safe spot now." He picked up a squashed-looking medkit. "D'you reckon this is still good?"

Kallus eyed the stains. "Not if the patches were punctured. Why did the commander turn down your request?"

"Loads of reasons, thought it wasn't his call by the end. It was those pesky representatives they've got these days. "Don't have the manpower." "It's too risky." "Not in our best interests." Bah. Idiots."

Kallus carefully folded another tunic, as opposed to the lump of cloth Zeb had in one fist. "You would think they would be more generous with those ships, seeing as it was this crew that procured them in the first place."

"Hmph. Y'd think."

"Do you have to go alone?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah." The Lasat said in the same subdued tone. "Could maybe bring Kanan or Sabine along, but this is unsanctioned. Don't want too many of us being away if they call the _Ghost_ in. And, well." He shook his head. "I'm not risking you to one of our people that might not have their head on straight. So I'll go in on the _Spectre_ , meet up with Hera's contacts, and get the right people escorted through to hand 'em off to the Elders."

Kallus understood. That didn't make saying goodbye any easier.

\---

"Hey."

Kallus blinked, and looked at Kanan. The Jedi gave him a smile, thankfully devoid of pity despite the fact he had been caught staring at the wall.

"We're docking on the Feedeek Space Station tomorrow morning. Do you want to go on the supply run, or stick to the ship?"

"How far are we from Empire occupied space?"

"Pretty far. Plenty of things to watch out for, but any Imperials that might be around will be in small numbers, easy to avoid."

"Then I think I'll take you up on that supply run." Kallus grimaced. "It's pathetic to be languishing about after a few hours."

"It's not-your feelings don't make you pathetic, Kallus."

"...right."

\---

Kallus slept poorly that night.

\---

Kanan and Sabine were waiting together when Kallus walked up to them the next morning. "Are you coming along with the party?"

She nodded. "I've got a few things to pick up, and some rumours to follow up on. A man that caused me and a friend trouble a while back might be on this station-"

"No calling attention to ourselves if you can help it!" Kanan said as he began disembarking.

"Of course. No need for attention if it's done right." She continued in an undertone.

Kallus smiled despite himself. "So who is this man that managed to catch your ire?" He followed Sabine down the ramp.

"Long story..."

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ssssup. My current location is still slogging through a muggy heat wave. Love the heat lightning, despise the humidity. Makes a slug out of me. Managed to get this done, flipping finally. Enjoy. I'm heading back underground.  
> Plot. Plot. Plot. I'm going to have to balance this out. Must toss up smut one shot later.  
> Also-are omniculars a Star Wars thing, or a Harry Potter thing? I don't care, I'm repurposing it to suit my needs. Whatever it is, it ain't mine, and if anyone cares what it is, well, I enjoy conversations in the comments. Have at it.

 

"Anyway. After that mess, Ketsu and I quit digging around for our ancestor's leftovers. We weren't any good at treasure hunting to begin with, let alone with Empire on our tail. We left the Mandolorian artifacts for others to find. But Ketsu was always bitter at losing the trail, and she _despised_ the corporal that started our trouble. And now that we're not at each other's throats anymore, well-" Sabine shrugged. "When I told her we were heading in the same direction, she got excited at the thought of another hunt. And I'd be lying if I said I felt differently."

"What does Kanan think of this?" Kallus said, glancing around. The Jedi had disappeared down another street soon after disembarking. Sabine had surprised Kallus by not following suit, choosing instead to fall in step beside him.

"He's Empire, he's vile, and whatever he's doing, it's bad news for us and any innocents nearby. Besides, Kanan and Hera figure I can reel Ketsu in if it looks like she's going too far."

"Would you?"

"...probably, yeah." She didn't meet his eyes.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, turning another corner. The streets of this particular port were packed, vendors piling their teetering carts high, throwing blankets with wares on the ground, and thrusting random items under the noses of passerby. Kallus could spot several dozen alien species in their lane alone, as well as a myriad of human races. The noise was deafening.

A perfect atmosphere for picking up news and rumours. The two dawdled between carts. Sabine struck up a conversation with a Bothan vendor, cooing over a cage of small scaled mammals that flashed their fangs up at her. Kallus kept an eye on nearby strangers.

It only took a few minutes for Sabine to start showing signs of agitation.

"This isn't right." She guided them away from the waving vendor. "There isn't...there's no sign. We leave signs for each other, near docking ports, when we're supposed to meet. A mark on a wall, a person with a message-something."

It didn't seem impossible to Kallus that they simply hadn't found one yet. But he held his tongue. Sabine knew her friend better than he did, and she wasn't stupid. If she thought Ketsu was in trouble it stood a likely chance of being true.

"What do you suggest?" He asked.

Sabine chewed her lip. "Normally..." She said slowly, "I would say get Chopper to do a scan for specific transmissions. Ketsu has a way with ships, and there are small discrepancies I can spot. But the more variety to a space port, the less easy it is to pick out, and with one like this it could take hours-what's that?"

Their communicators, each attached at the hip, emitted identical crackling noises before fizzing away into nothing.

"That's no jamming sequence-"

"No." Kallus interrupted. He pulled Sabine into a shadowed alcove, ignoring her indignant look. "It was the wave balancing itself. Someone just linked into our frequency-this port's frequency. A large enough group to cause a feedback."

A look of realization dawned on her face. "Oh. _Oh_. Well bantha dung, that's what happened. C'mon."

Kallus sighed as he watched her scale the wall. "The roofs again?"

He could practically _hear_ her eye roll. "Yes, the roofs again. Best way to find them fast, and not get caught like some other people who's butt I'm going to kick later. And we're in a hurry, so get up here old man."

He flexed his leg and sighed again. This was going to be murder on his knee, and they hadn't even found their enemies yet. There was nothing for it-except to perhaps remember this moment in future training sessions.

\---

"Wait!"

Kallus turned to Sabine, feeling quite irritated and disinclined to hide it. "We have been running across rooftops for nearly two hours-"

"It hasn't even been one!"

"I do not _care_ for the exact amount of time, as it has regardless been longer than I wanted to spend on these damnable roofs. There-" He pointed to an open square beyond the building they were currently perched on, "Are the Imperial forces that have likely imprisoned your friend. Is there any good reason we shouldn't approach, if for nothing but surveillance?"

"Because we can do our surveillance right here? At a safe distance?" She pulled a pair of omniculars from her pack, waving them at him.

"Here? It's too far. Every meter of distance increases the likelihood of visual interference."

Sabine folded her arms. "I've done surveillance for _Ghost_ missions a hundred times, just like this!"

Kallus blew out a frustrated breathe. "Fine." He conceded. "This is your operation, we'll do this your way."

Sabine looked taken aback at his capitulation. "O-kay." She gave a cursory glance over their surroundings, before focusing on the square where an Imperial ship squatted. "That's a lot of cargo-must be a supply run for a larger ship. Some stormtroopers, some people just standing around-they don't look like prisoners or Empire, I don't know- _there_ he is-I _knew_ it-" Sabine snorted, and handed Kallus the omniculars. "Looks like this moron's been promoted since I've seen him last."

Fiddling with the controls, he zoomed in on the distant figure. A man of middling height with dark eyes and a sallow face-with a familiar insignia decorating his chest.

"The bureau's standards seem to have become severely diminished since my departure." Kallus murmured. "But for the ISB to be involved-" He tracked the crates, the 'troopers guiding them, and the group of men and women nearby that lacked any distinguishing traits to show their designation. "Hm. No. This isn't a supply r-" Sudden movement caught his eye, and he refocused on the entryway to the square on the far left corner. "Sabine, is that her?"

She accepted the omniculars, fumbling slightly as she raised them to her face. Kallus didn't need an answer to his question. Following the barely visible commotion and Sabine's subsequent body language was enough response. Squinting, he could see an armoured woman in shackles hauled through the bay doors, flailing and knocking down several of her captors in the process.

Visual confirmation. Enough to move on.

"Shall we radio Kanan?" He asked quietly. "We'll need to have some distance on these people first. We still share a wavelength."

Sabine lowered the omniculars, but her eyes were still fixed on the spot she saw her friend last. "Yeah-I'll do it. I need to-I'll talk to him." She stood but hesitated, still staring.

"You go." She looked down and blinked. He nodded, settling in his position and laying the bo-rifle across his legs. "Explain the situation and work out a plan. I'll stay and ensure they remain as well."

"How are you going to do that?"

"Oh, the usual." Kallus smiled, and swiped a few grenades from her belt with a deft hand. "With creativity and explosives."

She returned the grin, and leapt the next roof with ease, loping away into the gathering dusk.

\---

For once, little excitement occurred while he was alone. There was a moment Kallus thought he had been spotted, but the stormtrooper's gesticulations had nothing to do with him and everything to do with an inebriated local about to ram their security blockade. With his head. Kallus could hear the drunken laughter from his position as the man had dashed away, howling with hysteria. How fortunate for him that the 'troopers had better things to do than hunt him down.

Pity. They could have used an extended distraction.

Finally, Kallus spotted Sabine dashing towards him. She skidded to a halt. The Mandolorian girl was breathless, and alone. The grenades were unnecessary after all.

"Sorry-took so-long." She dropped next to him, sucking in lungful's of air. "Took some-convincing. Not-best standing, with the-crew." The redness in her face began to recede, and she accepted the proffered water bottle with a nod of thanks.

Kallus understood their hesitance to risk life and limb for a woman that had quite recently been employed to slavers. Then again, he also understood their occasionally exaggerated obsession with forgiveness.

"But they have conceded to a rescue mission."

"Yes." Sabine finished chugging the water before continuing. "After I got in range-which reminds me-" She grabbed his communicator and began fiddling with it. "New channel-anyway, once I got ahold of Kanan and Hera, I gave them the rundown. They're not excited about it, but we're going in. Just had to phrase it the right way-none of us are keen on abandoning folks. It's the basic infiltration plan for us. I told them it wasn't a heavily militarized posting, more the supply route variety-"

"I don't believe I finished my thought earlier. This ship isn't here for a supply run."

Sabine hissed, striking her forehead with a palm. "I knew I was forgetting something! You started to say-and we've already set it up!"

"I don't think the nature of their mission is going to interfere with our boarding plans." Kallus directed her to the unidentified group of people that were drifting towards the ship, talking amongst themselves. "I think I recognize some of those faces from Imperial profiles. They're engineers, and look there." He pointed at a few anti-gravity lifts. "Energy cells, fresh sheets of plasteel-this is one of the Empire's project ships. This is exactly the opportunity you and your friend were looking for. That man," He gestured at the person the ISB had seen fit to elevate to an elite position. " Is clearly in charge of an important operation. We can rescue Ketsu and ruin it. Simple enough."

"Simple-" Sabine laughed, and punched his arm. "Kallus, you sly boga, this is perfect-even if Kanan is going to have a fit for making this more complicated."

As if he had heard his name spoken, Kanan's voice echoed through the communicator.  "This is Specter Two, I'm in position. Are you ready to move in?"

Kallus plucked the device from Sabine's hand. "Specter Seven. Hold for a minute, I have some additional information you're going to want to hear."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Excuse me while I set up my pieces.


End file.
